Gyroscopic crusher of shallow height



Sept. 5, 1967 A. THOMAS 3,339,852

' I GYROSCOPIC ORUSHER OF SHALLOW'HEIGHT Filed June '5, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR- our /n43 United States Patent 3,339,852 GYROSCOPIC CRUSHER 0F SHALLOW HEIGHT Adolf Tho'mas, Duisburg, Germany, assignor to Esch-Werke KG., Duisburg, Germany Filed June 5, 1964, Ser. No. 372,756 Claims priority, application Germany, June 6, 1963,

9 Claims. ci.241--1s6 The present invention relates in general to comminution apparatus and more particularly to a mobile crusher of shallow height of the type providing gyratory movement of the comminution surface produced by an eccentric drive sleeve within the gyratory member.

The invention relates more particularly to a gyroscopic crusher with primary crushing chamber and shallow height especially adapted to movable crusher operation having an eccentric bushing for the direct support of the crusher cone extending over the entire height of the crushing chamber and which itself is supported on an axle stump rigidly connected to a floor plate in the crusher housing. Such crushers have a shallow height of layer to be compatible with the dredge used with the crushing operation and must of necessity be easily transported from one place of crusher operation to another.

The common construction of a crusher of this type is provided with a hollow axle stump for the support of the eccentric bushing and within which all drive means are arranged. However, with a construction of this type, accessibility to the drive members is extremely diflicu-lt, so that in the case of each break-down, practically the entire crusher mechanism must be disassembled and for this purpose the heavy parts must be removed in an upward direction through the top of the housing making repair very difiicult. Additionally, the width and the manufacturing costs of the crusher are increased considerably by placing the drive means in the hollow axle stump.

In addition to difiiculties of repair and high manufacturing costs, the operation of these prior art crushers is not entirely satisfactory. With these known crushers of shallow height, the crusher cone is imparted a pure translatory gyroscopic movement in which the crushing stroke of the crusher cone is the same over its entire height of the crushing chamber. However, since the composition of the material introduced into the crusher varies from one end of the crushing chamber to the other, it is both desirable and necessary for efiicient operation that the crushing stroke be varied in different portions of the crushing chamber. For example, at the upper part of the crusher chamber where the material is first introduced, it is desirable to provide a short crushing stroke of maximum force; whereas at the lower part of the crusher chamber where the material is much smaller in size, it is desirable to provide a long crushing stroke of minimum force.

In order to avoid the disadvantage of the prior art, an arrangement is arrived at in accordance with the instant invention by which the geometric axis of the outer surface of the eccentric bushing crosses the crusher mantle axis at a point above the crusher housing so that movement of the crusher cone is not purely translatory, but varies along the crusher axis. In addition, the crusher cone is supported at its lower end and below the crusher chamber by a spherical ring surface riding on a corresponding spherical ring surface in the crusher floor plate, the spherical center of each surface of which is located at the crossover point of said axes. The eccentric bushing which extends through the entire crusher chamber is driven at its upper end above the crusher chamber and is supported on the upper end of the crusher axle stump. The drive means for the bushing are arranged on a base supported on'one of the traverses or traverse rings above and to 3,339,852 Patented Sept. 5, 1967 "ice one side of the crusher chamber so as to be easily accessible.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a gyroscopic crusher of shallow height in which the gyratory movement of the comminution surface is controlled so that the crushing stroke and crushing force vary inversely from one end of the crushing chamber to the other.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a gyroscopic crusher of shallow height which provides for greater accessibility of the drive members by placing them outside of the crushing chamber thereby providing ease of repair and maintenance.

It is a further object of the instant invention to provide a gyroscopic crusher of shallow height providing a compact size and shape especially adapted to mobile operations and a low cost of manufacture through simplified arrangement and design of components.

It is still another object of the instant invention to provide a gyroscopic crusher of shallow height having an angularly disposed eccentric bushing which is suspended for rotation within the crusher chamber to provide simplified driving thereof from its suspended end.

It is still a further object of the instant invention to provide a gyroscopic crusher of shallow height having a crusher cone movable in a gyratory manner and supported on the base of the crusher chamber so as to be capable of movement transverse to the axis thereof about a point which forms the intersection between this axis and an axis related to an eccentric bushing for driving said crusher cone.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which shows, for purposes of illustration only, one embodiment in accordance with the present invention, and wherein FIGURE 1 is a vertical cross section of the instant invention through the crusher cone axis; and

FIGURE 2 is a corresponding top view of the embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 1.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference numerals are used throughout the various views to designate like parts, and more particularly to FIGURE 1, the crusher housing 2 and the primary crusher ring 3 are mounted on the base 1 of the crusher. The primary crusher ring 3 carries at its upper end a traverse ring 4 centered in the primary crusher ring. A full axle stump 5 is rigidly attached to the base .1 and is concentrically located in the base plate 7 of the base by means of a cone portion 6 which is pressed against the base by means of a nut 9 threaded at 8 on the cone portion and limited by a ring shoulder 11 pressed against the collar 12 of the base plate 7. The upper end of the axle stump is provided with a reduced diameter surface 13 which is surrounded by a collar 14 of .a support plate 15. The support plate is fastened by a traverse 16, connected as shown in FIG- URE 2 at its ends to the traverse ring 4. On the upper end of the mechanism, the axle stump is held axially and laterally stationary on the collar 14 by means of a thread 17 and a nut 18.

The geometric axis 19 of the axle stump 5 is arranged coaxially with the crusher housing 2, which supports the crusher mantle 22 provided on the inside with crusher ribs 21. The geometric axis 23 of the outer surface 24 of the eccentric bushing 25' supported on the axle stump 5 is titlted by an angle or in relation to the geometric axis 19. Both axes cross each other above the crusher ring 3 at a point 26 so that when the eccentric bushing rotates around the axle stump 5, the geometric axis 23 describes a slender conical surface around the geometric axis 19 and the crusher cone 27 supported on the outer surface 24 of the eccentric bushing performs a circular gyratory movement through which the crusher gap or outlet aperture 28 at the lower end of the crusher housing is periodically contracted and enlarged. The crusher stroke is a minimum at the upper end and increases to a maximum value at the crusher gap 28.

The crusher cone 27 is supported at the lower end by a ball-shaped ring surface 29 on the crusher cone resting on a spherical ring surface 31 of a ring 32 fastened to the base plate 7. The upper end of the crusher cone 27 is not fastened and therefore may expand freely in an upward direction due to heating or other causes. At the lower part, the crusher cone is held by means of a retainer ring 34 surrounding the outer flange 33 of the come 27 which is in turn attached to the base plate 7. The bearing surfaces 29 and 31 and flange 35 and the retainer ring are spherically shaped with the center of the sphere at point 26.

In comparison with the above-mentioned known crusher arrangement which has the same stroke throughout the entire height, the arrangement in accordance with the invention provides the advantage that at the intake to the crusher chamber, the crush pressure is large and the stroke is small and at the lower part of the crusher chamber, which is filled with smaller size material, the crush stroke is large and the crush pressure is reduced.

The eccentric bushing 25 is supported on top of the axle stump S at the shoulder 39 by means of an inwardly directed ring flange 36 through pressure rings 37, 38, and is free at its lower end so that it can expand downwardly if it heats up. A spur gear 41 is mounted on the flange ring 36 which gear is in engagement with a reduction gear arrangement 45 of any known commercial type through intermediate gears 42, 43 and a shaft 44 and to which a drive motor 47 is connected through a coupling 46. The motor and reduction gear are mounted on the support plate and the gears 41, 42, 43 are covered by means of a two-piece cover 48, which is sealed against the eccentric bushing by a ring seal 49.

The primary crusher ring 3 may be restricted in a known manner to a one-sided bulge as illustrated or may be provided with two bulges opposite from each other whereby the crusher ribs 51 will be arranged parallel to each other. The loading funnel 52 is rigidly connected with the traverse ring 4 and covers the drive means 4547.

It is obvious that moving the drive means out of the inner space of the axle stump, as provided in prior art constru-ctions, relocating the drive to the upper end of the eccentric bushing and arranging the drive components above the crusher chamber, provides a considerably slimmer construction of the crusher with appreciable reduction in weight and in construction costs as well as providing essentially easier access to the drive components.

While I have shown and described one embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it is obvious that the same is not limited thereto, but is susceptible of many changes and modifications within the spirit and scope thereof, and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the details shown and described herein, but intend to cover all such changes and modifications as are encompassed by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A portable gyroscopic crusher of shallow height, comprising: a base; a generally vertical axle fixedly secured at its lower end to said base; a crusher housing having an inner circumference provided with breaking ribs and being mounted on said base around said axle; said axle and crusher housing forming a breaking chamber; a primary crusher ring separably connected with said crusher housing; means for securely connecting the upper end of said axle with said primary crusher ring; an eccentric bushing rotatably mounted on said axle and extending along said crusher housing and said primary crusher ring; a crusher head mounted on said bushing and extending along said crusher housing and said primary crusher ring; said crusher ring being unsymmetrically displaced toward one side, with respect to said axle, to form a one-sided bugle chamber means having breaking ribs on said ring for fore-breaking particles too large for said breaking chamber; means for rotating said eccentric bushing being operatively connected therewith above said primary crusher ring and unsymmetrically displaced from said bulge chamber means of said primary crusher ring; a traverse member secured to the upper end of said primary crusher ring; a support plate secured to said traverse member: said means for rotating said bushing being mounted on said support plate; said axle having a reduced diameter portion at its upper end; said support plate having a mounting hub on said reduced diameter portion; collar means securing said hub to said axle; said means for rotating said bushing including a motor, a coupling and a reduction gear mounted on the top of said support plate, and intermediate power transmission gears mounted on the bottom of said support plate; and one of said transmission gears being mounted coaxially with said axle.

2. A crusher according to claim 1, said axle having a generally radially extending shoulder; said eccentric bushing having an inwardly directed flange ring being axially supported by said shoulder of said axle and being drivingly connected with said means for rotating said eccentric bushing.

3. A crusher according to claim 2, a loading funnel mounted directly above said one sided bulge chamber means and having wall means extending toward and over said axle for protecting said means for rotating said eccentric bushing.

4. A crusher according to claim 3, gyratory means for producing gyratory movement of said breaking head with a relatively high power and short stroke within the vicinity of said one side bulge chamber means, and a relatively low power and long stroke within the vicinity of said breaking chamber; said gyratory means forming an intersection of the axis of said axle with the axis of the outer surface of said eccentric bushing above said primary crusher ring.

5. A portable gyroscopic crusher of shall-ow height, comprising: a base; a generally vertical axle fixedly secured at its lower end to said base; a crusher housing having an inner circumference provided with breaking ribs and being mounted on said base around said axle; said axle and crusher housing forming a breaking chamber; a primary crusher ring separably connected with said crusher housing; means for securely connecting the upper end of said axle with said primary crusher ring; an eccentric bushing rotatably mounted on said axle and extending along said crusher housing and said primary crusher ring; a crusher head mounted on said bushing and extending along said crusher housing and said primary crusher ring; said crusher ring being unsymmetrically displaced toward one side, with respect to said axle, to form a one-sided bulge chamber means having breaking ribs on said ring for fore-breaking particles too large for said :breaking chamber; means for rotating said eccentric bushing being operatively connected therewith above said primary crusher ring and unsymmetically displaced from said bulge chamber means of said primary crusher ring; a loading funnel mounted directly above said one-side bulge chamber means and having wall means extending toward and ther said axle for protecting said means for rotating said eccentric bushing.

6. A crusher according to claim 1, gyratory means for producing gyratory movement of said breaking head with a relatively high power and short stroke within the vicinity of said one sided bulge chamber means, and a relatively low power and long stroke within the vicinity of said breaking chamber; said gyratory means forming an intersection of the axis of said axle with the axis of the outer surface of said eccentric bushing above said primary crusher ring.

7. A crusher accordingly to claim 5, further comprising gyratory means for producing gyratory movement of said breaking head with a relatively high power and short stroke within the vicinity of said one-sided bulge chamber means, and a relatively low power and long stroke within the vicinity of said breaking chamber; said gyratory means forming an intersection of the axis of said axle with the axis of the outer surface of said eccentric bushing above said primary crusher ring.

8. A portable gyroscopic crusher of shallow height, comprising: a base; a generally vertical axle fixedly secured at its lower end to said base; a crusher housing having an inner circumference provided with breaking ribs and being mounted on said base around said axle; said axle and crusher housing forming a breaking chamber; a primary crusher ring separably connected with said crusher housing; means for securely connected the upper end of said axle with said primary crusher ring; an eccentric bushing rotatably mounted on said axle and extending along said crusher housing and said primary crusher ring; a crusher head mounted on said bushing and extending along said crusher housing and said primary crusher ring; said crusher ring being unsymmetrically displaced toward one side, with respect to said axle, to form a one-sided bulge chamber means having breaking ribs on said ring for fore-breaking particles too large for said breaking chamber; means for rotating said eccentric bushing being operatively connected therewith above said primary crusher ring and unsymmetrically displaced from said bulge chamber means of said primary crusher ring; a traverse member secured to the upper end of said primary crusher ring; a support plate secured to said traverse member; said means for rotating said bushing being mounted on said support plate; said axle having a first diameter portion within said eccentric bushing, a second portion of smaller diameter above said bushing, and a radially extending shoulder portion there- -betWeen; said eccentric bushing having a radially inwardly extending integral ring flange overlapping said radial shoulder and having supporting bearing means therebetween; said means for rotating said bushing including a gear concentrically mounted about said second diameter portion of said shaft and being drivingly connected to said ring flange.

'9. A crusher according to claim 8, wherein said support plate extends radially outwardly from substantially only the diametric side of said shaft opposite from said one-sided bulge chamber means; and including a loading funnel mounted substantially only directly above said one-sided bulge chamber means opposite from said support plate; said loading funnel having an uppermost periphery extending upwardly and inwardly toward said shaft to at least the height of said means for rotating said eccentric bushing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 895,633 8/1908 Hathaway 241-212 961,084 6/1910 De Wein 241-208 1,050,398 1/1913 Smith 241-208 1,656,004 1/ 1928 Keine 241-208 2,609,151 9/1952 DAragon -241-208 X 3,006,562 10/1961 Thomas 241-156 ANDREW R. JUHASZ, Primary Examiner. 

5. A PORTABLE GYROSCOPIC CRUSHER OF SHALLOW HEIGHT, COMPRISING: A BASE; A GENERALLY VERTICAL AXLE FIXEDLY SECURED AT ITS LOWER END TO SAID BASE; A CRUSHER HOUSING HAVING AN INNER CIRCUMFERENCE PROVIDED WITH BREAKING RIBS AND BEING MOUNTED ON SAID BASE AROUND SAID AXLE; SAID AXLE AND CRUSHER HOUSING FORMING A BREAKING CHAMBER; A PRIMARY CRUSHER RING SEPARABLY CONNECTED WITH SAID CRUSHER HOUSING; MEANS FOR SECURELY CONNECTING THE UPPER END OF SAID AXLE WITH SAID PRIMARY CRUSHER RING; AN ECCENTRIC BUSHING ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID AXLE AND EXTENDING ALONG SAID CRUSHER HOUSING AND SAID PRIMARY CRUSHER RING; A CRUSHER HEAD MOUNTED ON SAID BUSHING AND EXTENDING ALONG SAID CRUSHER HOUSING AND SAID PRIMARY CRUSHER RING; SAID CRUSHER RING BEING UNSYMMETRICALLY DISPLACED TOWARD ONE SIDE, WITH RESPECT TO SAID AXLE, TO FORM A ONE-SIDED BULGE CHAMBER MEANS HAVING BREAKING RIBS ON SAID RING FOR FORE-BREAKING PARTICLES TO LARGE FOR SAID BREAKING CHAMBER; MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID ECCENTRIC BUSHING BEING OPERATIVELY CONNECTED THEREWITH ABOVE SAID PRIMARY CRUSHER RING AND UNSYMMETICALLY DISPLACED FROM SAID BULGE CHAMBER MEANS OF SAID PRIMARY CRUSHER RRING; A LOADING FUNNEL MOUNTED DIRECTLY ABOVE SAID ONE-SIDE BULGE CHAMBER MEANS AND HAVING WALL MEANS EXTENDING TOWARD AND THER SAID AXLE FOR PROTECTING SAID MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID ECCENTRIC BUSHING. 